McArthur, David; And Others Algebraic Thinking Tools: Supports for Modeling Situations and Solving Problems in Kids ' Worlds.

This Note describes several versions of an intelligent tutor for basic algebra that have been developed at the RAND Corporation. The versions of the tutor were built around several core components, including an algebra expert system and a student modeling component that can make inferences about misconceptions underlying students errors. The different versions help students learn distinct kinds of mathematical reasoning skills. The first discussion concerns the equation-solving tutor, which focuses on the acquisition of relatively low-level symbol manipulation skills. Next, the model-building tuto'r which helps students acquire important mathematical reasoning skills that are no ' part of most algebra curricula, including the ability to formulate a mathematical model of real-world situations and to test mathematical hypotheses, is discussed. This document concludes with a dincussion of the implications of the tutors for curriculum;:hange. The pedagogica